


Me, You, and the Moon

by swanjones



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, Family, Family Feels, Fluff, Gen, Republic City, Uncle! Sokka, bumi is baby!, kind of sad? I'm not sure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24872200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/swanjones/pseuds/swanjones
Summary: Bumi is eager to spend the night at his uncle Sokka's house, but Sokka is dealing with old wounds. He does his best to make sure Bumi doesn't notice.
Relationships: Sokka/Suki (Avatar), Sokka/Yue (Avatar)
Comments: 1
Kudos: 58





	Me, You, and the Moon

**Author's Note:**

> this is just a quick one I thought of in the shower today. it's short, hopefully you like it. it made me a little sad to write oops. I just have a lot of thoughts about Bumi because I would die for him, also thinking about adult Sokka makes me so sad, I love him too.

Bumi was constantly making excuses to hang out with his Uncle Sokka. Frankly, he just had more fun when he was with the rambunctious, adventurous, and down right hilarious guy. Bumi wanted to be like Sokka when he grew up, so he wanted to spend as much time with him now as he could. When Bumi was an only child, Sokka would watch him most weekends, to let Aang and Katara have some time to themselves. When Suki passed away, around the time Kya was born, Sokka stopped watching Bumi so often. But since then, it’s been a few years, and Bumi has started spending more time than ever with his favorite uncle.

This evening was special though, as it was Katara’s birthday, and Aang wanted to spend the night with her in Republic City. Kya chose to spend the night with her best friend Izumi in the fire nation with Zuko and Mai, but of course when asked where he would like to go, Bumi resoundingly answered that he wanted to “hang with Uncle Sokka” as he put it. His parents, being eager to get on their date, obliged to his requests, and after taking Kya to the Fire Nation, they took Bumi to Sokka’s pad. 

One would have thought Bumi was an airbender seeing the way he flew down off of Appa’s saddle to see his uncle. He ran to Sokka, who stood in the doorway of his home. Sokka scooped the boy up off the ground in a massive platypus-bear hug. Aang helped Katara down off of Appa and they both greeted Sokka, more solemnly than usual. Bumi watched as they hugged Sokka and asked him if he was okay with watching Bumi. He told them that he would be fine. Bumi questioned his parents’ hesitance, but quickly dismissed the questions. The boys waved goodbye to Aang and Katara as they flew off in the direction of the city. Bumi dropped his satchel of clothes just inside the door, and he removed his shoes, which he tossed aimlessly on the floor. Sokka chuckled at his haphazard behavior. He didn’t mind… he knew his parents would have gotten on his case for it at home, but he was the ‘cool uncle’ so he let it slide. They ate dinner, and spent the hours before bed galavanting around Sokka’s home, dueling with wooden swords, and battling invisible enemies. Eventually, Sokka had successfully tired out Bumi, and he readied him for bed. 

Sokka only had one bed in his house however, so he let Bumi sleep there. After ensuring Bumi had everything he needed, he walked back out into his main room, and unravelled a sleeping bag, and readied himself for bed. He dozed in and out of sleep, his mind spinning with thoughts. He thought about Suki most nights when he fell asleep, but tonight, exactly three years after her passing, he couldn’t get the thoughts of her out of his head. He finally felt himself falling asleep, and he saw Suki’s face. She was young, and so was he. She reached out and cupped his cheek with her hand. When she made contact though, Sokka jolted awake at her touch. He sat up and hung his head at the thought of his lost lover. He knew he wouldn’t be able to fall back asleep anytime soon.

With a glass of water, he walked out quietly onto the porch attached to his room, so as to not wake the snoring Bumi in his bed that was far too big for him. There was one chair out on the balcony, and Sokka used it on the nights he couldn’t sleep. He pulled the chair close to him, sat down, and stared up at the sky. The moon was almost full that night, and although it was late, its reflection lit up the world and made it rather easy to see. He locked his eyes on the moon… his other former lover. He began to sob. He couldn’t tell if they were tears of anger, or grief, or just sadness. …. “Your future is full of struggle and anguish. Most of it, self-inflicted.”..... The words of the fortuneteller he visited as a teenager rang through his head like a sour reminder of the heartache he was experiencing. Surely this wasn’t self inflicted…. He hadn’t done anything causing him to deserve this level of pain. He rested his face in the palms of his hands, and his shoulders shook with his quiet sobs. 

“Uncle Sokka?” Bumi asked groggily from the doorway. Sokka jumped at his nephew's voice, and he promptly wiped the tears from his face. He would hate for Bumi to see him like this.

“Why are you out here?” He asked as he shuffled over to Sokka’s chair. Without invitation, he moved Sokka’s arm, and crawled into his uncle’s lap. He re-placed his arm around his own shoulders. Sokka chuckled at the boy.

“I couldn’t sleep, kid.” Sokka sighed. “I like to look at the sky and the moon when I get upset. It usually calms me down.” 

“You were cryin’ pretty hard though.” Bumi said bluntly. At first, Sokka was mortified that Bumi not only heard his cries, but was woken up because of them. “That’s okay though. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” Bumi looked up and smiled at his uncle.

“I’ll be okay, eventually.” Sokka told him. “I lost someone I loved, a while ago, but I still think about her. A lot. Tonight was just one of those nights. We can’t always have good days.” A lump was rising in Sokka’s throat. He fought with all his might to keep it from gurgling up into another fit of tears. Bumi grabbed his uncle's large, calloused hand and held it in both of his.

“Can you tell me about her?” Bumi asked. “No one else will hear, it’s just me, you and the moon.” Sokka hesitated at first, but he looked up into the sky, and smiled at the sight of the glorious moon hanging above them. Eventually, he let out a sigh.

Bumi leaned his head back onto Sokka’s shoulder as he told him stories of the woman that he once loved, and all that she achieved. They both fell asleep in that chair, with both Suki and Yue watching over them.


End file.
